


Patriot/Rebel, Tory/Loyalist

by schwertlilie



Series: We the People [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: American Revolution, Gen, Gen Fic, History Fic, Memories, Memory Alteration, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-15
Updated: 2012-05-15
Packaged: 2017-11-05 10:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/405290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schwertlilie/pseuds/schwertlilie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the nations' memories are literally the national memory, as taught in schools and discussed on talk shows? And changing the way people think about their history changes the nation's own memories?</p><p>In this, Alfred and Matthew talk about the Tories/(United Empire) Loyalists, who opposed the American Revolution - many of whom became refugees when the war ended, and were granted land in other British colonies of the time in thanks for their loyalty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Patriot/Rebel, Tory/Loyalist

Matthew wasn't sure what to expect when Alfred knocked on his hotel room door, but it wasn't to open the door and see him with slumped shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"... Can I come in?"

He stepped back to let his brother through the doorway, and shut & locked the door behind him. "Did something happen? Do I need to call your boss, or my boss, or-"

Al shook his head, mouth set as he toed off his shoes. "It's not that, it's- I had dinner with Arthur, and he had too much gin, and he started going on about my revolution again."

"And?" Matthew asked, taking Alfred's elbow and propelling him to the bed.

"And he started going on about how much trouble my citizens were to relocate, after, how much trouble they were, like the Blacks he had to ship to Sierra Leone and the land-grabbing late ones who were only in it for the free farms, and I didn't remember."

Alfred stayed on his feet, so Matt set himself on the edge of the mattress. " _What_ didn't you remember?"

" _Who_. The Tories, their evacuation- I remember traitors, and I remember seizing their property and removing them and tarring  & feathering them, but they aren't _mine_ anymore. I know that they were fighting for me, in their own way, but I don't _remember_."

No, this was not what he'd been expecting. "Can I get you a beer?" he tried.

"... Can I have a hug?"

Oh _Alfred_. Matthew opened his arms, and Alfred sat, curled into Matthew's chest. "We don't remember everyone all the time, you know that."

"But this is _different_ \- I _know_ they were mine, because I've read things, because I have letters from some of them talking about something we did some time, but I don't remember any of it. I don't remember any of _them_."

"Maybe it's because they became mine? And Arthur's and all the rest of ours?" 

Alfred shook his head, which really meant rubbing his forehead against Matthew's shoulder. "Not just the people who left, but the ones that stayed and the ones I-" He took a deep breath. "I remember watching some of the Patriots hang an old Quaker for collaboration, after we re-took Philadelphia, and that it was a message which had to be sent - not that I was watching one of my own die. But _you_ remember them."

"That's not a question, Al."

"Doesn't need to be. You took them in, even though it screwed over your Frenchiness."

"Mm, they were influential." He shifted a little - his left thigh was going numb and the corner of Alfred's glasses was digging into his shoulder - but Al tightened his hold on Matthew. "'Evolution, not revolution' and all that." 

"Yeah, that. And it's not like _the_ Civil War, where I remember both sides 'cause the people remember both sides, the Tories are just- Gone."

"... It's not your fault, you know."

"I know."

And he sounded so miserable that Matthew had to try _something_ to make it better. "I've been forgetting that I had slaves."

Alfred's head shot up. "You had slaves? You, Mr. Underground Railroad, follow the North star to freedom?"

"Mm-hm. Not just in my territory, but serving me. Francis bought the first one for me after the hand-over of Acadia. I forgot her entirely for a long time, and maybe in twenty years, if the Native rights groups get their way, I'll remember her name." He swallowed, forced his voice to be cheerful. "So there's nothing saying you won't remember them later."

"Yeah." Alfred looked at him - a little more closely than Matthew would have liked. "Thank you. For taking the Tories in. I don't know if I've ever said it, but- Thanks for giving them homes."

"And your Mennonites, and your draft dodgers, and..." Alfred frowned, so Matt poked his side. "I'm teasing," he lied.

"Oh."

"So. Are you going to spend the night on my lap, or am I allowed to go get ready for bed? My first meeting is in," he checked the bedside clock, "ten hours."

"Can I put the TV on?"

"As long as it's not porn, sure."

Alfred smiled, then stood and offered Matthew a hand up. "I was thinking Iron Man."

Matthew's face fell, and Alfred laughed. "Gotcha. And it's cool, I'll see you in the morning."

"All right." He patted Alfred's shoulder. "Sleep well."

"You too." Then he was off, unlocking the door and going back to his room, leaving Matthew to try and sleep and not think about what he's been forgetting.

**Author's Note:**

> This 'verse is inspired by a trip I took to Washington DC, and how very differently history is written in the American national museums versus the Canadian ones. I mean, I was aware of how history changes before I went, but _wow_ \- things like 1812-wise, how they presented the burning of Washington as an unprovoked attack or the Battle of New Orleans as militarily important. I didn't find a single positive mention of Loyalists/Tories in the National Museum of American History - doesn't mean there weren't any, just that I didn't see them - and then this happened. 
> 
> Specific history notes:  
> \- During the American Revolution, the British government promised land and freedom for [Black slaves](http://www.blackhistorycanada.ca/events.php?themeid=21&id=2) who joined the British cause. When the Revolution was over, the Black settlers discovered that they'd mostly been given shit land and that the local White population was just as racist as the one they'd left behind. In 1792, over a thousand left Nova Scotia (now part of Canada) to found Freetown in Sierra Leone (Africa).  
> \- The [Late Loyalists](http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/fortgeorge/edu/edu10/d.aspx) were people who left the United States in the 1790s for promises of land in Upper Canada (now Ontario) in exchange for an oath to the British Crown.  
> \- [John Roberts and Abraham Carlisle](http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Trails/2008/Loyalist-Trails-2008.php?issue=200848) were hanged in 1778 for [collaboration with the British](http://frontierhistory.blogspot.ca/2011/07/executions-in-revolutionary-war.html), despite their advanced age and petitions asking for leniency. Convenient examples of Loyalist executions were convenient.  
> \- Yes, Canada had slaves, though earlier on they were mostly Native Americans instead of Blacks.  
> \- Some of Canada's Mennonites came from Pennsylvania after (unarmed) conflict about compulsory military service, and Canada continues to be a destination for American draft dodgers. 
> 
> All mistakes are my own, and corrections (& concrit!) are appreciated. :)


End file.
